My favorite movie was "Fight Club." It was, until July 18 that is. I think, that after that my new favorite movie became "The Dark Knight." I am still mulling it over, but it was definitely the best movie I have seen this year.
The best thing about it, is that it avoids the cliche hero stuff. It doesn't just act like it is easy to be good. It faces the difficult question of how far a hero can go to stop the villain. Can a hero really be willing to kill those who threaten others? Can a hero do things that might be villainous in the hands of others? I am not sure.
I have been debating this internally for awhile. Usually I think that I want elected officials to do things that I myself would not be willing to do. If it is necessary that someone get tortured in order to find out about a terrorist attack, am I ok with that?
What about pedophiles? Am I ok with officials invading the privacy of some in order to find those that prey on children? How far should we go when we punish them? Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of a few?
Do I want to elect someone who is willing to act in very unethical ways in order to protect my way of life? I just don't know. I know my answer should be that I don't want someone that does not share my morals and ethics in a political position of power over me, but I also know that if our country were to behave as a country according to Jesus commands, then we would be taken over. We would not enjoy some of the freedoms we do. Tough call.
8.14.2008
8.12.2008
Late Summer Cleaning...
Since we decided a couple weeks ago to kick all our stuff to the curb and leave it behind, I have had to do quite a bit of clean-up. The first thing I decided to clean up was one of my favorite things, my book collection. I went to my shelf and grabbed all the books that I either never read and never intended to, or all the books that I simply question why I had them in the first place. Those books were all placed in a pile near my desk.
I looked at the book-shelf and realized that I still had way to many. I can imagine a bit how Gideon felt (God I really need all those books...). So I started to separate the pile between books that I absolutely did not want to give up and those that I might be ok giving up. This divided it about in half again. I now have a much more manageable stack of books to keep, including Greek and Hebrew books, theology and some old favorites, namely CS Lewis. So now I am trying to get rid of all these old books somehow. I have listed about half of my disposable books on amazon, and am currently selling a few a day. This is nice because I am making money back on them. Some of the books simply are not worth selling, I wouldn't make any profit after shipping etc. So those I am giving away.
Yesterday, I got into a really crazy mood for some reason. I started just going through my closet and doing something similar. Then I found an old box of things I really like, and did something similar. Now I am looking for other things in my life that I can do that with. It is really freeing, to be honest. I still have some things that I really love and don't want to part with, but I think I have said to myself that I will not be owned by stuff. There are quite a few things that will be difficult to part with, but I think one of the major reasons we decided to do this is that we wanted to not be consumers. Ironically, it led to us having to buy new furniture when we moved, but I think this is more in a utility way, as in, people need furniture to live. So anyway, this is just the latest twist in our moving saga, hopefully it will continue to be fun and unexpected.
I looked at the book-shelf and realized that I still had way to many. I can imagine a bit how Gideon felt (God I really need all those books...). So I started to separate the pile between books that I absolutely did not want to give up and those that I might be ok giving up. This divided it about in half again. I now have a much more manageable stack of books to keep, including Greek and Hebrew books, theology and some old favorites, namely CS Lewis. So now I am trying to get rid of all these old books somehow. I have listed about half of my disposable books on amazon, and am currently selling a few a day. This is nice because I am making money back on them. Some of the books simply are not worth selling, I wouldn't make any profit after shipping etc. So those I am giving away.
Yesterday, I got into a really crazy mood for some reason. I started just going through my closet and doing something similar. Then I found an old box of things I really like, and did something similar. Now I am looking for other things in my life that I can do that with. It is really freeing, to be honest. I still have some things that I really love and don't want to part with, but I think I have said to myself that I will not be owned by stuff. There are quite a few things that will be difficult to part with, but I think one of the major reasons we decided to do this is that we wanted to not be consumers. Ironically, it led to us having to buy new furniture when we moved, but I think this is more in a utility way, as in, people need furniture to live. So anyway, this is just the latest twist in our moving saga, hopefully it will continue to be fun and unexpected.
8.11.2008
The Rules: Answer each question, then tag one other. Chris's adaptation: This is the only time I have done this, and will ever do this. I am only doing it because my wife wants me to. I will tag no one else, because only Robin reads this.
1. Where is your cell phone? hell
2. Your significant other? mad-but-wonderful
3. Your hair? long
4. Your mother? lost
5. Your father? absent
6. Your favorite thing? Football
7. Your dream last night? empty
8. Your favorite drink? DP
9. Your dream/goal? Help
10. The room you're in? temporary
11. Your hobby? basketball
12. Your fear? worthlessness
13. What do you want to be in 6 years? Author-pastor
14. What you're not? rich
15. Muffins? english
16. One of your wish list items? TV
17. Where you grew up? poor
18. The last thing you did? banana
19. What are you wearing? strange...
20. Favorite gadget? XBox
21. Your pets? future
22. Your computer? Frankenstein
23. Your mood? sad
24. Missing someone? Na
25. Your car? new
26. Something your not wearing? shoes
27. Favorite store? Best
28. Like someone? how?
29. Your favorite color? black
30. When was the last time you laughed? January
31. Last time you cried? dunno
I tag, me.
1. Where is your cell phone? hell
2. Your significant other? mad-but-wonderful
3. Your hair? long
4. Your mother? lost
5. Your father? absent
6. Your favorite thing? Football
7. Your dream last night? empty
8. Your favorite drink? DP
9. Your dream/goal? Help
10. The room you're in? temporary
11. Your hobby? basketball
12. Your fear? worthlessness
13. What do you want to be in 6 years? Author-pastor
14. What you're not? rich
15. Muffins? english
16. One of your wish list items? TV
17. Where you grew up? poor
18. The last thing you did? banana
19. What are you wearing? strange...
20. Favorite gadget? XBox
21. Your pets? future
22. Your computer? Frankenstein
23. Your mood? sad
24. Missing someone? Na
25. Your car? new
26. Something your not wearing? shoes
27. Favorite store? Best
28. Like someone? how?
29. Your favorite color? black
30. When was the last time you laughed? January
31. Last time you cried? dunno
I tag, me.
8.08.2008
List of loves...
I know my wife is going to freak out because I have posted twice in as many days, but I thought about this earlier as I washed my cheese slicer. I was thinking about the different things in life I have loved.
My first love came at a very young age when I was first introduced to cheese. I began by eating slices off of a block of mild cheddar. I knew then that a lasting relationship was formed. I began to seek out every kind of cheese I could. I loved Muenster, Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby, pretty much everything but American (it always tasted rubbery and self-involved). I remember at our nasty house on 22nd street we didn't have a fridge, but we kept all of our stuff in an ice-chest on the porch. Pretty gross. The only thing I would eat from that would be cheese. I learned to be picky and careful because of that, but to this day my favorite snack is a bit of white cheddar cheese on top of a chicken flavored cracker, don't knock it till you try it.
Soon, I discovered my second and third loves. The both occurred around the same time. My friend Adam had a Nintendo and I used to go over to his house a lot. He also had a computer with games like Doom and Wolfenstein on it. We used to try to find ways to put more blood on the game, something that isn't really tough to do anymore. This was my second love, video games. We were too poor growing up for me to have anything really, but eventually, and I think this came after much saving and borrowing, my mom got me a Super Nintendo. To say I wore that thing out is an understatement. I pretty much came home from school every day in middle school and played that game. I had games like Madden and Super Mario Brothers memorized.
My second love went hand in hand with my third, and maybe my most passionate. I discovered Dr. Pepper some time in middle school. It went from something that I loved getting (I would take some of our foodstamps down to 7-11 and buy the 59 cent glass twenty ounce every day) to something I felt like I couldn't live without sometimes. I have pretty much enjoyed a Dr. Pepper a day since. I have taken times off, but I always return to this love of mine.
Around my junior year in highschool, I discovered a love that I hadn't really appreciated, but I think was always there. I began to love football. Unfortunately, our school didn't have a team, but that worked out OK, because the college my family had gone to had just gotten a pretty decent coach. He came in and turned what had been a loser for the past decade or so into a success. This was all cemented in my mind during my senior year. We would all gather at my friend Jason's house. He was an only child in a rich family and he had an entire upstairs to himself. He had a huge screen TV and we would gather every Saturday to watch OU. Jason had some weird weapons around his room, like swords and big knives, and every time OU was down in a game, we would all grab a "rally weapon" and cheer harder. They came back every time that year. OU finished undefeated and I have not missed a game since, unless it was on Pay per view or something.
I have all of these loves, and they have all changed me, but my favorite and most important is my newest. I met her in 2003 and it has been an adventure since then. It took me some time to realize I loved her, but she is a lot more complicated than cheese or video games or Dr. Pepper. Those things don't feel the same way I do. But Robin passes them all. She is new and different and she changes and she makes me a better person. She won't make my cholesterol worse or keep me awake (well she does do that sometimes, but not because of caffeine). I used to think she was out of my league when we first met, then I got cocky and then I thought she was gone, then we were together and stayed that way. I am lucky to have her and I look forward to the rest of our life. And I'm glad she doesn't love Dr. Pepper and cheese and video games the way I do, more for me.
My first love came at a very young age when I was first introduced to cheese. I began by eating slices off of a block of mild cheddar. I knew then that a lasting relationship was formed. I began to seek out every kind of cheese I could. I loved Muenster, Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby, pretty much everything but American (it always tasted rubbery and self-involved). I remember at our nasty house on 22nd street we didn't have a fridge, but we kept all of our stuff in an ice-chest on the porch. Pretty gross. The only thing I would eat from that would be cheese. I learned to be picky and careful because of that, but to this day my favorite snack is a bit of white cheddar cheese on top of a chicken flavored cracker, don't knock it till you try it.
Soon, I discovered my second and third loves. The both occurred around the same time. My friend Adam had a Nintendo and I used to go over to his house a lot. He also had a computer with games like Doom and Wolfenstein on it. We used to try to find ways to put more blood on the game, something that isn't really tough to do anymore. This was my second love, video games. We were too poor growing up for me to have anything really, but eventually, and I think this came after much saving and borrowing, my mom got me a Super Nintendo. To say I wore that thing out is an understatement. I pretty much came home from school every day in middle school and played that game. I had games like Madden and Super Mario Brothers memorized.
My second love went hand in hand with my third, and maybe my most passionate. I discovered Dr. Pepper some time in middle school. It went from something that I loved getting (I would take some of our foodstamps down to 7-11 and buy the 59 cent glass twenty ounce every day) to something I felt like I couldn't live without sometimes. I have pretty much enjoyed a Dr. Pepper a day since. I have taken times off, but I always return to this love of mine.
Around my junior year in highschool, I discovered a love that I hadn't really appreciated, but I think was always there. I began to love football. Unfortunately, our school didn't have a team, but that worked out OK, because the college my family had gone to had just gotten a pretty decent coach. He came in and turned what had been a loser for the past decade or so into a success. This was all cemented in my mind during my senior year. We would all gather at my friend Jason's house. He was an only child in a rich family and he had an entire upstairs to himself. He had a huge screen TV and we would gather every Saturday to watch OU. Jason had some weird weapons around his room, like swords and big knives, and every time OU was down in a game, we would all grab a "rally weapon" and cheer harder. They came back every time that year. OU finished undefeated and I have not missed a game since, unless it was on Pay per view or something.
I have all of these loves, and they have all changed me, but my favorite and most important is my newest. I met her in 2003 and it has been an adventure since then. It took me some time to realize I loved her, but she is a lot more complicated than cheese or video games or Dr. Pepper. Those things don't feel the same way I do. But Robin passes them all. She is new and different and she changes and she makes me a better person. She won't make my cholesterol worse or keep me awake (well she does do that sometimes, but not because of caffeine). I used to think she was out of my league when we first met, then I got cocky and then I thought she was gone, then we were together and stayed that way. I am lucky to have her and I look forward to the rest of our life. And I'm glad she doesn't love Dr. Pepper and cheese and video games the way I do, more for me.
8.07.2008
Stuff that owns you...
One of my professors used to say "pack light for the journey." That in and of itself does not seem all that profound to me, but for some reason it has really stuck with Robin and I. So since we are in the middle of the journey, we thought we should lighten our load a bit. It also reminds me of Fight Club when Brad Pitt says to Edward Norton "You think you own your stuff, but your stuff ends up owning you." (my paraphrase)
Our goal is now to sell everything that won't fit in our two cars. Of course, we have to buy more furniture, but I think it has been a good exercise so far in us saying that we won't love anything so much that we won't give it up. My personal weakness is books. But here I am, selling or giving away more than half of the wonderful books I have accumulated. I love books of every type, but I am now only keeping those books that I love the most. I think all of us would be better off to have less stuff, and hopefully we won't be too quick to clutter up our lives again.
We have less than two months left here, which is weird because I feel like we just got here. I am pretty comfortable in Waco now, but we have to start looking for places to live and jobs in Denver now. While that is incredibly exciting to me, I am also realistic enough to know there is a chance all this could collapse and fail. But, one of my mentors and favorite professors used to tell me that we can only be obedient, we can't succeed or fail. So we will do our best, and trust God with the results.
Our goal is now to sell everything that won't fit in our two cars. Of course, we have to buy more furniture, but I think it has been a good exercise so far in us saying that we won't love anything so much that we won't give it up. My personal weakness is books. But here I am, selling or giving away more than half of the wonderful books I have accumulated. I love books of every type, but I am now only keeping those books that I love the most. I think all of us would be better off to have less stuff, and hopefully we won't be too quick to clutter up our lives again.
We have less than two months left here, which is weird because I feel like we just got here. I am pretty comfortable in Waco now, but we have to start looking for places to live and jobs in Denver now. While that is incredibly exciting to me, I am also realistic enough to know there is a chance all this could collapse and fail. But, one of my mentors and favorite professors used to tell me that we can only be obedient, we can't succeed or fail. So we will do our best, and trust God with the results.
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